Law enforcement officials and anti-violence activists are blasting a state proposal that would allow South Carolinians to carry guns — concealed or openly — without a permit or any training, saying it would endanger police and the general public.

Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis said in an email that he supports a resolution by the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association endorsing training for anyone who wants to carry a concealed weapon and opposing changes in current law.

Supporters of the bill, meanwhile, are returning fire, claiming that so-called constitutional carry, or open carry, would cut down on crime.

“States that have put open carry into place have seen a reduction in crime,” said state Rep. Phyllis Henderson, R-Greenville. “They’ve not seen an escalation in gun violence.”

The bill, sponsored by retired Greenville police officer Rep. Mike Pitts of Laurens, recently won state House approval, 64-46, largely along party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposing.

The measure is now being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The bill would allow South Carolinians to carry guns in most public places — even in large public gatherings such as downtown Greenville’s big street festivals — but not in schools, churches, federal buildings and airports.

Private businesses could post signs to prevent guns in offices and other buildings.

Lawmakers also would continue to ban guns from the Statehouse, where they work.

Miller, the Greenville police chief, noted that the measure is opposed by both the S.C. Police Chiefs Association and the S.C. Sheriff’s Association.

He said the proposal could lead to more police confrontations with people carrying guns.

“So now everybody is authorized to carry a gun, and guns tend to draw out other guns,” Miller said. “It will create opportunities for police shootings or for police officers or deputies to get hurt more.”

When guns are right at hand, simple arguments can easily escalate, resulting in tragedy, Miller said.

“Incidents can happen when one person has a disagreement with another and guns are readily available in an open fashion,” he said. “This bill raises risks in our communities, and I don’t know what it does of any public value.”

Anti-violence activists say the measure would create a climate of fear because it will be difficult to know who is openly carrying a gun for peaceful purposes and who is intent on doing harm.

“It is a terrible idea,” said Anderson activist Monica Rockwell. “It makes it harder for the cops to know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys because it would be legal to be walking around with a gun on their hip.”

Such laws pose problems particularly in a live-shooter situation, activists say. They cite the example of a 2016 shooting in Dallas in which five police officers were killed. Some ordinary citizens responded to the incident with guns to assist law enforcement, creating confusion for the police, they say.

“How can they figure out who the shooter was when everyone is walking around with an AK-47?” asked Sue Berkowitz, executive director of S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center.

State Rep. Mike Burns, R-Greenville, who supported the bill, said the measure would allow South Carolinians to carry, concealed or openly, “what you already are legally allowed to purchase.”

A spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster said the governor supports the legislation.

“Governor McMaster appreciates the House’s hard work on this bill, believes it is constitutional, and will sign it if it reaches his desk,” McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said in an email.

Safety is the issue

At the heart of the issue is the question of safety.

“People feel safer if they’re able to carry their weapons,” Henderson said.

She added that if she saw someone carrying a gun in a public place, “I would feel protected. Someone would be there who could have my back.”

However, Tandy Taylor, an Upstate spokeswoman for the anti-violence organization Moms Demand Action South Carolina, said the sight of lethal weapons in private hands would make most people fearful.

“If I go into a restaurant and I see someone sitting next to me with a gun, I don’t feel more safe, I feel less safe,” she said. “How do you tell their intent?”

Rockwell agreed: “It seems the only purpose for this is to intimidate regular citizens.”

Activists question how people should react to someone carrying a gun in public if the bill becomes law.

Should they call the police? Or give the gun-owner the benefit of the doubt?

Don’t call the police, said Rep. Burns.

If the bill becomes law, police would not be allowed to question someone merely for openly carrying a gun, Burns said.

“The police are required not to assume someone is doing something wrong if they’re openly carrying a gun,” Burns said. “People would have to get used to that, and they will.”

But Chief Miller said that people who feel threatened by the sight of a gun should be able to call the police, and the police would respond.

“Who’s going to know if someone is carrying a gun for peaceful purposes?” Miller said. “Some may call us because they feel threatened, and I don’t see us not responding. We don’t tell people who call us that we’re not coming. We will still respond because we don’t know whether someone is carrying that firearm lawfully or whether they intend to harm somebody.”

Miller said he’s surprised to see lawmakers opposing the will of law enforcement leaders in the state on the issue of crime and gun violence.

“I don’t know what’s happening with sensibilities,” Miller said. “It just does not feel like a sensible thing to do, given that in many cities across our country violence is on the rise and much of that violence is gun violence.”

Burns said he supported the bill because crime is on the rise and the police are not always available to help.

“People have to be able to protect themselves,” Burns said. “The police can’t protect everybody, so it’s incumbent on you to protect yourself, and you have a constitutional right to do that.”

Burns added, “The fewer gun-free zones we have, the more protected average citizens will be.”

Burns said he believes the Legislature should allow guns in some of the places where guns would be banned, such as the Statehouse.

State Rep. Bill Chumley, R-Spartanburg, said supporters of the bill studied the issue extensively and decided it would be good for South Carolina.

“As we looked at other states and their experience, we see that crime has gone down in states with open carry,” Chumley said. “I want to follow the Constitution and the Second Amendment says we can carry guns. The statistics bear out that it has been a deterrent to crime and there have been very few cases of the things that people worry about.”

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Lydia Vernon fires a handgun at a target at Sharpshooters Indoor Range on Friday, April 14, 2017. (Photo: JOSH MORGAN/Staff)

Training for lethal weapons

Activists such as Taylor, with Moms Demand Action, believe that training should be required for anyone who wants to carry a gun, concealed or openly.

“It seems like the height of folly to me to have people carrying guns with no permit and no training required,” she said. “Guns will get into dangerous hands. People who should not have a gun would now be able to have one in public.”

Education is needed particularly for gun-owners who would want to protect themselves or step into a live-shooter situation to deter crime, Taylor argues.

“You need training to think clearly in a crisis situation,” Taylor said. “Otherwise, it just adds to the chaos and to the likelihood that someone innocent will be shot.”

Activists also raise the issue of racial profiling, suggesting that white gun-owners who are openly carrying weapons might be viewed as more benign than minorities who are openly displaying guns.

“We know what happens with profiling, especially with people of color,” Berkowitz, of the Appleseed center said.,

Taylor said also that businesses should not have the burden of posting signs to keep guns off the premises.

“It’s maddening that you have to post something,” she said. “It should be the other way around. It should be assumed that guns are not allowed unless you say they are.”

Paul Hyde covers education and everything else under the South Carolina sun. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter: @PaulHyde7.